The interlocking action in a quick disconnect coupling is commonly provided by a set of balls annularly disposed and received with a suitable clearance into recesses, provided in a cylindrical sleeve of the female portion, the balls cooperating with a groove of the male portion, the side faces of which forming ramps, so that when the male portion is introduced into the female portion, the balls are first moved radially towards the outer by a ramp of the groove of the male portion, and are then resiliently urged into a groove having a suitable contour formed into the peripheral surface of the male portion.
In such a type of quick disconnect coupling, the radial movement of the balls is generally controlled by a surrounding collar slidably received onto the sleeve containing the balls therein, the collar being formed with a ramp which connects two axial bores of different diameters formed into the collar, so that in a first position of the collar, the bore having the smaller diameter surrounds the recesses where the balls are received and prevents the balls to move radially towards the outer, and in a second position of the collar, the bore having the larger diameter surrounds the recesses where the balls are received, thus permitting the balls to move radially towards the outer, the ramp connecting the two bores acting, to move the balls back towards the center of the female portion.
The radial movement of the balls is thus controlled by an axial movement of the locking collar. An example of such a mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,459 (Martinez), issued on 10 Apr. 1979, the complete disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
This collar is generally biased by a strong compression spring which tends to press the collar against a shoulder counterbored into the cylindrical sleeve. In this first position of the collar, or nonoperative position, the bore having the smaller diameter in the collar surrounds the balls so that they are maintained in their retracted or inner position.
Therefore, a quick disconnect coupling of the above type can operated as follows. The locking collar is slid to its unlocking position and maintained in this position while introducing the male portion into the female portion. When the male portion is fully introduced into the female portion, the locking collar can be released, the return spring moving same back to its first or rest position, thus locking the balls and hence the male portion into the female portion.
Conventional quick disconnects of this type are used on hoses so that the hose is allowed to rotate, i.e. the male portion is allowed to rotate within the female portion. Furthermore, the conventional disconnects are not suitable for high strength applications and/or high torque applications.